A tour of Diageo's whisky archive

Diageo, the owner of Johnnie Walker and Lagavulin, has an archive containing over 500,000 whisky artefacts dating back 200 years.

Within the archive in Menstrie is a ‘liquid library’ of over 5,000 bottles of whisky and other spirits from across the years.

While viewers may spot some modern releases within the archive’s tall glass cabinets, there are some rare gems to be found, including a bottle of Old Highland Malt – the 19th-century precursor to Johnnie Walker Red Label – containing a well-preserved snake.

Diageo archive manager Christine McCafferty is the custodian of around 200 years of whisky history. Along with her team she is responsible for ensuring that the archive contains an example of every new release from Diageo, as well as preserving its existing contents with extreme care.